THe media is saying four things:
1. Assault weapons are a major problem and need to be banned
2. Gun violence is getting worse
3. School shootings are getting worse
4. Criminals en mass are arming themselves through a gunshow loophole
None of those things are true according to the FBI's own Bureau of Justice Statistics
http://www.bjs.gov/index.cfm?ty=pbdetail&iid=4616
Highlights:
Firearm-related homicides declined 39%, from 18,253 in 1993 to 11,101 in 2011.
Nonfatal firearm crimes declined 69%, from 1.5 million victimizations in 1993 to 467,300 victimizations in 2011.
Firearm violence accounted for about 70% of all homicides and less than 10% of all nonfatal violent crime from 1993 to 2011.
From 1993 to 2011, about 70% to 80% of firearm homicides and 90% of nonfatal firearm victimizations were committed with a handgun.
Males, blacks, and persons ages 18 to 24 had the highest rates of firearm homicide from 1993 to 2010.
About 61% of nonfatal firearm violence was reported to the police in 2007-11.
Between '93 and '11, the murder rate in schools dropped by almost a third; from 29 to 20
Less than one-percent of state prisoners caught with a gun purchased it at a gun show
If you are an American you are statistically safer now than you have ever been in the last 20 years. Not only is gun violence down despite what the news says, BJS (Bureau of Justice Statistics) says rapes are down by 58%.
My take aways are; the most common weapon for crime is a handgun and not an assault rifle, it still sucks to be black, welcome to America! The gunshow loophole is kind bullshit, and medical techniques in the wake of the war on terror have advanced leaps treatment of gunshot wounds, or maybe as a nation we all became terrible terrible shots